Ashland CEO hails 'talent' in Mullingar after expansion

US chemical company Ashland celebrated the second expansion of its pharmaceutical injectables manufacturing and R&D lab in Mullingar with a ribbon-cutting ceremony last Thursday, August 22.

The company, valued at $2.2 billion, employs 4,000 people worldwide in 20 labs and 26 offices; 32 employees are based in Mullingar.

The latest enhancement of the lab, located in the National Science Park on the Dublin Road, is aimed at expanding Ashland’s capabilities and increasing the headcount at the facility, which specialises in bioresorbable polymer chemistry to meet growing market demands.

Speaking at the ribbon-cutting ceremony in Mullingar, Ashland CEO Guillermo Novo said the town is an excellent place to do business.

“The universities in the area, the talent we have here, is just incredible,” he said.

“We’re happy to invest here, we’re really happy with the talent, and we’re bringing people to Mullingar who are happy to be here.

“We want to be a responsible partner to the community, and we also want to feel that we’re appreciated, which we do feel.

“It’s a good, magic mixture; we’re proud of this facility, and we’re proud of this community.”

Mr Novo used a food analogy to describe Ashland’s role in the business world:

“We’re not the fillet mignon, we’re not the main; we’re the spices and things that give us the pleasure of eating,” he said.

“In pharma, we don’t make the active ingredient; we help deliver it and make better performance for our customers – same thing for cosmetics and other areas.

“We’re about a $2.2 billion company, a large-small company, which is a sweet spot.

“We have the resources to invest, the global presence to do a lot of things, but I like to think we have the agility and flexibility to move fast.”

Enterprise Minister Peter Burke said it was great to welcome the expansion in his hometown and hailed Ireland’s progress: “If you look at our life science sector, we have about 100,000 people in the Irish economy that are employed in it,” he said. “It exports about €93 billion every single year and is growing rapidly.”

The Fine Gael TD said the most important resource Ireland has is its people. “They are the most highly skilled in the world, and that’s our primary advantage,” he said. “We have the highest per capita of STEM graduates between 20 and 29.

“We have also, at this point in time, double the EU average per capita of ICT graduates coming out of our tertiary education partnerships, and that’s exciting for the future of Ireland.”

IDA executive director Mary Buckley said Mullingar and the greater region are growing in terms of industrial business.

“The midlands is a great region with a significant number of companies here,” she said.

“It’s one of the regions where we saw a significant growth in employment last year, at about 5.8%.

“The midlands, from an employment perspective and an FDI (foreign direct investment) perspective, is growing, and that is terrific to see.

“We want to ensure that the country is growing, and we also feel that sustainability and talent development are critically important.”

She also noted it was great to see other companies expand in Westmeath this year, such as Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, which purchased a site in Monkstown, Athlone, for $92.5 million in May.

• Ashland Inc is “a global additives and specialty ingredients company with a conscious and proactive mindset for environment, social, and governance (ESG)”.

Visit ashland.com and ashland.com/ESG to learn more.